Ultimate Jam Night at Lucky Strike Live in Hollywood, CA on 08-July-2015

The only thing more epic than Nuno Bettencourt and Billy Sheehan jamming together for the first time ever, is when Phil X joined them.

The theme of Ultimate Jam Night’s Week 24 had to be guitars. Massive, insane, blistering guitars. Each time your jaw was on the floor after watching the most ridiculous shredding you have ever witnessed,Â someone new would hit the stage and take it even further. Week 24 was also a record-breaking night in terms of the crowd, with over 700 people squeezing themselves into every nook and cranny of Lucky Strike to bear witness to the unrehearsed brilliance of rock and roll royalty.

Week 24 started with Gabbie RaeÂ doing a brief acoustic set, the highlight of which was Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” It was completely unexpected and absolutely fantastic.

Jam Night got startedÂ with the house bandÂ -Â which consists of Matt Starr (Mr. Big/Ace Frehley), Chuck Wright (Quiet Riot), and Mitch Perry (Lita Ford) – joined by Roby Duron (Bostyx), and Reinhold SchwartzwaldÂ (Patrice Rushen)Â forÂ “Hocus Pocus.” Then it was off and running with the first guest performer of the night, Hollie Wolfe, taking on “Barracuda.” Next,Â Roby Duron took a turn at “Manic Depression,” with Alice Cooper’s Glen Sobel on drums and Sean McNabb (Lynch Mob/Dokken) on bass.

Dusty Bo from Future Villains was up next, with “Ocean,” and “Whole Lotta Rosie.” Then Joe Retta (Heaven & Earth/The Sweet) returned to the Jam Night stage with Spacey T on guitar for “The Thrill is Gone.”Â Kenny Kanowski took over on vocals for “Real Me,” where he was joined by the Dirty Rotten Horns, and “Lemon Song,” and then the house band closed out the first set with “Frankenstein.”

The bar was raised for set two with Tonya Kay‘s deranged creepy clown burlesque act danced to NIN’s “Hole in the Head.”Â Then things really started to get nuts. Joe Retta returned to the stage with Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme/Rihanna), Billy Sheehan (The Winery Dogs,) Steve Ferlazzo (Avril Lavigne) and Matt Starr for “Burn,” and the Sweet’s “Ballroom Blitz,” which sounded amazing. You could have ended the set right there and it would have been mind blowing, but then Carl Restivo (Rihanna, Tom Morello) stepped upÂ to the plate, for Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher.”

Next up was Madame Mayhem, who’s new album was produced by Billy Sheehan. She turned in an amazing performance of “Grinder,” and “We Rock,” with Courtney Cox on guitar. Then the bar was again raised even higher with Bon Jovi’s Phil X, who sang on “Funk #49,” and “Fire.”

Stonebreed’s Carlos Cruz and Brandon Paul were up next with “Fortunate Son,” and then Jacob Broner (Lynam/Adler) brought the new wave with Duran Duran’s “Rio.” The night ended with Gabbie Rae and Matt Starr trading vocals on an epic renditionÂ of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.”

About The Author

Kathy is a freelance concert photographer based in Los Angeles, CA.
Kathy started photographing bands in the early 80s, where she was a fixture on the L.A. rock scene. She returned to concert photography in 2011, starting Wicked Goddess Photography.
She is editor-in-chief of Spice of Wickedness, and regularly contributes content to several sites, including Loudwire, Diffuser, and Find Your Seen.
Kathy can be found on twitter @wickedgoddess.